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A lawyer who helped dupe a victim into paying almost $150,000 for a sham cult rescue has been struck from the roll.
Norma Markovski, a lawyer formerly employed with Prudent the Law, was struck from the roll for the theft of $145,000 from a victim who was tricked into believing it was for a cult rescue and to protect them from an FBI investigation and arrest.
NSW Court of Appeal president Justice Julie Ward, together with Justice Anthony Payne and Justice Stephen Free, found Markovski’s conduct “was completely inconsistent with the honesty and integrity required of a legal practitioner”.
“It would be inimical to the reputation of the profession, and to the public confidence in the integrity of the profession and the administration of justice, for the respondent’s name to remain on the roll,” Justices Ward, Payne and Free said.
The victim was first contacted over LinkedIn in August 2020 by a person who identified themselves as Ronald Cheng.
Cheng duped the victim into sending US$8,500 ($12,104) with a fake story about his daughter being in a cult in England.
When the victim became suspicious over more requests for money, Cheng connected them with Markovski, who later met with the victim at her residence and in the Sydney city centre.
Markovski provided the victim with the details for a banking account under the name of Prudent Group International Trading and Investment, of which she was the director and sole user.
The victim sent more money to this account and was provided with assurances whenever they became suspicious.
In October 2020, the victim received a WhatsApp message from a person calling themselves “General Thurman”. Markovski had earlier claimed to have known Cheng and Thurman for several years.
Thurman told the victim they were “under investigation” but would protect them from arrest for a $110,000 fee.
Having exhausted their own financial resources, the victim began withdrawing funds from their mother’s account.
Between September 2020 and November 2020, Markovski made cash withdrawals from the Prudent account and made deposits into CoinSpot, a cryptocurrency and exchange platform.
Between November 2020 and March 2021, Markovski made 47 deposits into the CoinSpot account, totalling $405,380.
Markovski then transferred the deposited amounts to various unidentified cryptocurrency wallets, totalling $401,532. The difference of $3,847 was alleged to have been derived from Markovski’s involvement in the cult plot.
The Court of Appeal heard the victim lost $145,000 between September 2020 and January 2021, and spent much of that time genuinely believing they were under investigation. This belief was influenced by information provided by Markovski.
After several months, the victim requested that the money be returned. Markovski agreed but ultimately did not do so.
Then, in mid-2021, Markovski sent a text message to the victim to claim the reimbursement was “ready to be sent” and provided an email that referred to her position as a lawyer.
The victim did not respond.
NSW Police began their investigation around this time.
Markovski claimed she used Prudent Group to invest bitcoin and normally received an income “every six months”. She asserted that there was an unnamed business partner who contacted her after receiving the victim’s money, which she would then withdraw and deposit into the cryptocurrency account.
She asserted she was the “intermediary” between the business and the victim, but did not offer any explanations as to why the victim and business partner did not arrange transfers directly.
Despite claiming she had known the business partner since the offending began, she could not identify any details about them, and neither did she make inquiries to determine their identity.
Justices Ward, Payne and Free inferred Markovski knew the business partner was fraudulent and the arrangement regarding the victim’s money was a “fraudulent scheme”.
“We are satisfied that the respondent knew that she was participating in the fraudulent scheme, which she deliberately maintained even after the victim sought to end the arrangement.
“The respondent’s failure to return the victim’s money, despite agreeing to do so, provides further evidence of the respondent’s lack of integrity,” Justices Ward, Payne and Free said.
Markovski pleaded guilty in September 2022 and was sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment, with a seven-month non-parole period. She was also ordered to pay $100,000 in compensation.
In addition to the strike-off, the Court of Appeal ordered Markovski to pay costs.
The disciplinary action also noted Markovski had failed to notify the Council of the Law Society of NSW of the criminal charges within the seven-day deadline, or at all.
In June 2022, Markovski again failed to disclose the conviction in an application to renew her practising certificate and declared that she was a fit and proper person to practise.
Citation: The Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of New South Wales v Markovski [2026] NSWCA 224.
